The 6th International Conference on Renewable Power Generation (RPG)

19–20 October 2017

Control for offshore wind power integration based on modular multilevel converter
Cheng Lv, Nengling Tai
Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, People’s Republic of China
E-mail: lvcheng@sjtu.edu.cn

Published in The Journal of Engineering; Received on 11th October 2017; Accepted on 2nd November 2017

Abstract: The voltage source converter-based high-voltage direct current (VSC-HVDC) is introduced and used in the integration. Nowadays,
the application of the modular multilevel converter (MMC) is attracting more and more attention in the large-scale offshore wind power in-
tegration. With the rapid development of wind power and other distribution generators, VSC-HVDC can no longer meet the requirement of
large capacity and good economy, making MMC-HVDC a tendency of the large-scale offshore wind power integration. The basic research of
MMC has been concluded in this study. It is necessary to investigate the control for offshore wind power integration based on MMC. Besides,
converters connected to wind farms take the constant ac voltage control, in which the voltage reference is constant. This study explains the
basic control theory of MMC-HVDC. Then an adaptive control for offshore wind power integration is investigated in detail. Finally, a three-
terminal MMC-HVDC system is established in PSCAD/EMTDC for simulation and verification.

1 Introduction 2 MMC principle and model

Nowadays, the offshore wind power integration mostly uses ac A typical MMC-HVDC converter has three-phase units, each with
interconnection. Along with the enlargement of capacity of two bridge arms. In order to design the control strategy, Fig. 1 illus-
wind turbine and the scale of wind farms, the influence of the in- trates a simple equivalent circuit of MMC, in which each bridge arm
tegration of wind power on the operation of power grid is increas- is simplified by a voltage source [6, 7].
ingly outstanding. The advantages of ac interconnection include In Fig. 1, usk, isk, vk (k = a, b, c) indicate the grid voltage, grid
high reliability, simple structures and mature technology. With current and converter ac voltage; uk1, uk2, ik1, ik2 indicate the
the increase of distance, the ac interconnection will cost much voltage and current of upper and lower bridges; Udc indicates
higher than the dc transmission. Recently, the voltage source the dc-link voltage; Rs, Ls, L indicate the equivalent resistance, in-
converter-based high-voltage direct current (VSC-HVDC) tech- ductance, and bridge arm inductance, respectively. Suppose the
nology is gradually introduced to the offshore wind power inte- three-phase ac system is balanced, the mathematical model of
gration [1–3]. VSC has no charge process of the inductance MMC is (1) in three-phase stable abc frame [8]
and capacitance, no compensation system, and thus low manu-
facture cost. Specially in long distance transmission, VSC is a ⎡
usa
⎤ ⎡ ⎤
isa  
⎡ ⎤ ⎡ ⎤
isa va
better choice for wind power integration due to its relatively 1
⎣ usb ⎦ = Rs ⎣ isb ⎦ + Ls + L d ⎣ isb ⎦ + ⎣ vb ⎦ (1)
low cost. 2 dt
usc isc isc vc
Modular multilevel converter (MMC) is a topology breakthrough
during the development of VSC. MMC can achieve a high equiva-
lent frequency with a lower switching frequency and specific modu- To get the mathematical model in dq reference frame, we take the
lation methods [4]. With the rapid development of power park transform on (1). The transform matrix P is (2) and its inverse
electronics and control technology, it is expected that matrix P −1 is (3)
MMC-HVDC can play a crucial role in the expanding offshore ⎡   ⎤
wind power integration. In the control of MMC, only a converter 2 ⎣ cos a cos a − 2p/3 cos a + 2p/3
on one terminal uses the constant voltage control, whereas the con- P (a) = − sin a − sin a − 2p/3 − sin a + 2p/3 ⎦ (2)
3
verters on other terminals may take the constant power control. 1/2 1/2 1/2
Since that the output power of the wind farm has large fluctuation, ⎡ ⎤
the converter connected to the wind farms cannot use the constant  cos a  sin a
− 1
power control [5]. P −1 (a) = ⎣ cosa − 2p/3 − sina − 2p/3 1⎦ (3)
This paper firstly establishes the mathematic model of MMC cos a + 2p/3 − sin a + 2p/3 1
and builds its model in PSCAD/EMTDC. The control principle
is investigated based on the wind farm model. A multiterminal After using (2) and (3), (1) can be transformed into the model in
MMC-HVDC simulation system is then built in PSCAD/ dq reference frame:
EMTDC and several conditions are simulated. Simulation
results show that the control is effective and the system can ⎡ ⎤ ⎡ ⎤ ⎡ ⎤ ⎡ ⎤
work properly with the offshore wind power integration. The usd isd    isd vd
1
⎣ usq ⎦ = Rs ⎣ isq ⎦ + Ls + L P + dP d ⎣ isq ⎦ + ⎣ vq ⎦
fluctuation of the wind power and the faults pose little damage +
2 dt dt
to the dc voltage and grid ac system, both during faults and us0 is0 is0 v0
after faults. (4)

J. Eng., 2017, Vol. 2017, Iss. 13, pp. 1885–1889 This is an open access article published by the IET under the Creative Commons
doi: 10.1049/joe.2017.0658 Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/)
 Fig. 2 Inner current loop controller
Fig. 1 Equivalent circuit of a three-phase MMC

To further simplify (4), we can get the mathematical model of

MMC in dq frame in general
⎧ di
⎪
⎪ L0 sd = usd − Rs isd − vd + vL0 isq
⎪
⎪
⎪ dt
disq
⎨
L0 = usq − Rs isq − vq + vL0 isd (5)
⎪
⎪ dt
⎩L = L + 1L
⎪
⎪
⎪
0 s
2

where usd, usq indicate d–q-axis components of ac bus voltage;

vd, vq indicate d–q-axis components of converter ac voltage,
respectively.

3 MMC-HVDC controller design

3.1 Design principle of inner loop
From (5), we can derive that
⎧ di
⎨ vd = usd − Rs isd − L0 sd + vL0 isq
⎪
dt (6)
⎩ v = u − R i − L disq + vL i
⎪
Fig. 3 Outer loop controller
q sq s sq 0 0 sd
dt a Active power controller
b Reactive power controller
As shown in (6), vd and vq are related to ac voltage and ac current, c dc voltage controller
and coupled with each other. The coupling voltages also add the
difficulty in analysis and design of controller. To decouple this re-
lation, let 3.2 Design of outer loop for power and dc voltage
⎧ In general, the inner loop of MMC is to obtain the reference value of
di id and iq, while the outer loop is functioned to calculate idref and iqref
⎪
⎪ v′ d = Rs isd + L0 sd
dt
⎪
⎪
⎪
⎪ based on the measured outer parameters, such as active power, re-
⎨
′ disq active power, and dc voltage. The amplitude limiting link is essen-
v q = Rs isq + L0 (7)
⎪
⎪ dt tial and the outer loop for MMC is typically shown in Fig. 3.
⎪ Dvd = vLiq
⎪
⎪
⎪
Dvq = vLid
⎩
4 Control strategy for MMC-HVDC
v′d v′q
In (7), and are voltage components which have first-order dif- 4.1 Control for wind farm converter
ferential relationship with isd, isq, which can be obtained by propor-
The active power of wind farm is unstable with the change of wind
tional integral control in (8). The decoupling terms ωLiq, ωLid help
speed when the wind farm is connected through an MMC. If the
decouple the d, q-axis. After introducing ac voltage feedforward
power is not completely transmitted, the ac bus voltage and fre-
terms usd, usq, the output variables of inner current loop will be
quency will fluctuate, interfering the operation of wind farms. It
finally achieved
is necessary to provide a stable ac voltage for PCC to guarantee
⎧ the effective control. Wind farms are equivalent to a passive
⎨ v′ d = kp idref − isd + ki idref − isd dt
 
network when there is no active power. Under these circumstances,
    (8) the outer loop controllers are no longer applicable, and (1) is also
⎩ v′ q = kp iqref − isq + ki iqref − isq dt
not applicable owing to the non-existent usd and usq. To deal with
the problem, this paper proposes a control strategy of designing
where idref, iqref indicate the reference value for d-axis current and passive networks.
q-axis current, respectively. We first take the direction of the voltage vector of phase-a as a
Combining (6)–(8), the inner current loop controller is illustrated reference, that is, usq = 0. Then R = 0 and ωL = 0 can also be
in Fig. 2. obtained with losses of transformers and converters neglected.

This is an open access article published by the IET under the Creative Commons J. Eng., 2017, Vol. 2017, Iss. 13, pp. 1885–1889
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 Table 1 Parameters of the MMC-HVDC system

Parameter Value

transformer type YNd

AC system resistance 0.1 Ω
inductance of AC system 0.043 H
number of sub-module in each arm (N) 20
capacitance of each sub-module 3000 μF
cascaded inductance in each arm 0.06 H
steady voltage of each sub-module 20 kV

Fig. 4 Control logic diagram for MMC connected to wind farm

grid are set to be 200, 200, 400 MW, respectively. Wind farms
are integrated to the network at t = 0.2 s. Converters are connected
Under such conditions, (6) can be rewritten as to each other through dc cables. The length of cables between con-
 verters is 30 km. The power level is the highest in the grid, and it
vd = usd + vL0 isq takes the constant dc voltage while the converters connected to
(9)
vq = −vL0 isd wind farms take the constant ac voltage. Some other basic para-
meters of the system are shown in Table 1, and the parameters of
where the dq-axis reference values of ac source are usd = 1 and the cable are illustrated in Fig. 6.
usq = 0.
Combining (7)–(9), the corresponding control logic diagram is 5.2 Power fluctuation in wind farms
illustrated in Fig. 4.
In order to investigate the influence of power fluctuations, the power
of wind farm #1 is adjusted as shown in Fig. 7, in which the farm is
4.2 Coordination control strategy for MTDC integrated at t = 0.2 s. The active power is kept as 200 MW from 0.2
Multi-terminal dc transmission (MTDC) systems are more flexible to 1 s, and decreases by one-third at t = 1 s. This condition is to
than two-terminal dc systems in operation, while the controller logic imitate the reality that one-third of the wind turbines cannot work
of MTDC is much more complex. The converters use these control properly due to system faults.
logics above. However, the coordination control between converters The simulation results of DC voltage of the three-terminal
is also important. The dc voltage controllers of MMC-MTDC are MMC-MTDC system are shown in Fig. 8.
mainly divided into two kinds. One kind of the controllers is that As can be seen from Fig. 8, the dc voltages of three converters
with communication, known as master–slave control. This kind can achieve the rated value in 0.1 s after start-up and slightly fluc-
can achieve the stable control of dc voltage by the communication tuate when the wind farms are integrated at t = 0.2 s. When the
system. The other kind of control strategies is that without commu- power of wind farm decreases at t = 1 s, the dc voltage of wind
nication systems, including the slope control and the dc voltage de-
viation control. When the main controller is out of service due to
faults, the reverse one can detect the dc voltage deviation and
then changes into the operation mode of the constant dc voltage, en-
suring the stability of dc voltage. Finally, a multi-terminal system
cannot provide a stable voltage due to wind farms and passive net-
works. The grid, in result, has to be integrated to networks earlier
than wind farms in simulations, with the purpose to stabilise the
dc voltage in advance. Otherwise, it will cause the fluctuation of
wind farms.

5 Simulation case
5.1 Model of the system in PSCAD/EMTDC
This paper designs a three-terminal MMC-HVDC system in
PSCAD/EMTDC as shown in Fig. 5. The dc voltage is set as
±200 kV. The rated powers of wind farm #1, wind farm #2 and

Fig. 6 Parameters of dc cables

Fig. 5 Three-terminal MMC-HVDC system Fig. 7 Fluctuation of active power in wind farms #1

J. Eng., 2017, Vol. 2017, Iss. 13, pp. 1885–1889 This is an open access article published by the IET under the Creative Commons
doi: 10.1049/joe.2017.0658 Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/)
Fig. 8 DC voltage wave of each terminal when the active power of wind
farm fluctuates
a DC voltage of MMC1 (wind farm #1)
b DC voltage of MMC2 (wind farm #2)
c DC voltage of MMC3 (grid)
Fig. 9 AC voltage wave of each terminal
a AC voltage of MMC1 (rms, wind farm #1)
b AC voltage of MMC2 (rms, wind farm #2)
c AC voltage of MMC3 (rms, grid)
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Fig. 10 DC voltage wave of each terminal when the three-phase faults
happen
a DC voltage of MMC1 (wind farm #1)
b DC voltage of MMC2 (wind farm #2)
c DC voltage of MMC3 (grid)
farms has little change. Fig. 9 illustrates that the rms value of ac
voltage on each converter is also stable when the power of wind
farms decreases. With the fluctuation of wind power, the
MMC-MTDC system can work properly and stably.
5.3 Three-phase fault in wind farms
With the integration of wind farms and increase of wind turbine
capacity, more and larger wind farms have been built and put
into power grid operation. The three-phase short-circuit faults in
wind farms are the most serious faults. To test the effectiveness
of the control logic, a three-phase grounding fault is set at
t = 0.6 s at wind farm #1 ac side. The fault duration is 0.2 s. The
dc voltage waves of three terminals are shown in Fig. 10.
As can be seen in Fig. 10, when the three-phase grounding fault
happens at the wind farm #1, the dc voltage of each terminal will
decrease and return to stable level after the fault stops. This charac-
teristic verifies the effectiveness of the control for MMC-HVDC.
6 Conclusion
This paper introduces the control principle for the offshore wind
power integration based on the MMC-HVDC. Taking the wind
power fluctuation into consideration, the control in MMC takes
the constant ac voltage and the dq-axis voltage reference is set to
be constant. Simulation results show that the control is effective.
To verify the effectiveness of the control strategy in dealing with
the fluctuation of the wind power, different conditions are set in
the simulation case.
J. Eng., 2017, Vol. 2017, Iss. 13, pp. 1885–1889
doi: 10.1049/joe.2017.0658
 (i) The MMC-HVDC system can work properly with the offshore
wind power integration. The system will come to stability
quickly after the start-up. The fluctuations of the dc and ac vol-
tages are within the acceptance when wind farms are con-
nected into the network.
(ii) The fluctuation of the wind power has little damage on the
MMC-HVDC system. When the wind power increases or
decreases, the dc cable voltage changes slightly, and the
system operates stably.
(iii) When a three-phase grounding fault occurs in one wind farm,
the dc voltage has nearly little fluctuation in the MMC-HVDC
system both during and after the fault.
The proposed control logic for the offshore wind farm integration
is effective, making the MMC-HVDC system stable. The influence
of faults is slight and the multi-terminal system with the proposed
control logic is strong enough with high reliability.
7 Acknowledgement
The authors gratefully acknowledge the financial supports by the
National Science Foundation of China under grant nos. 51377104
and 51407115.
J. Eng., 2017, Vol. 2017, Iss. 13, pp. 1885–1889 This is an open access article published by the IET under the Creative Commons
doi: 10.1049/joe.2017.0658
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